Common Linnets - Oosterschelde

 

During our walks along the shoreline of the Oosterschelde (Netherlands) we walked along some 'inlays' that were formed in areas where a break in the dyke was possible. A new dyke was made a bit more inland and the area between both dykes sometimes got flooded, sometimes stayed mostly dry land. These 'inlays' are now valuable and varied spots of nature, protected so we are only allowed to see them from the dykes that surround them.

One of those 'inlays' has a lot of breeding birds and at one place there is a birdwatcher's spot where we could look at the activity on the small (artificial) islands in the water. As it was springtime when we walked there, we had a lot to look at.

We were on the dyke and could not only see the water, but also the top of the bushes and small trees that were growing underneath the dyke in the protected area. These branches were frequented by some small birds and I asked my husband (who had the camera) to make some (reference) pictures. It was not easy, as the birds did not stay in one place for a long time, but he got me some nice pictures. 

One of the birds had been sitting there for some time, the other had just arrived and was arranging his (or her) feathers before settling for a rest. The background of the reference pictures is the water behind the dyke and the sunlit branches with the birds were standing out perfectly.

At first we thought - guided by the sound of skylarks - that these were the birds in the picture, but we were wrong. After comparing our picture with some references in books we concluded that these are common linnets. That is still special for us, as these small birds are not easily found where we live.

For this drawing I made a background in watercolour, because  that is the best way in which I could create the illusion of calm water in the background of the scene. Because I have used cellulose-based paper, I could not make my background as dark as the water looked in the reference pictures. Adding more layers of paint to that quality of paper only results in picking up all the paint that was already there and leaving white paper instead of a nice dark colour.

The branches and the birds are drawn with water-soluble pencils. Because the background ended up lighter than I hoped it would be, I had to make the branches darker than they were in the reference to stand out. My white pencil was not very visible on this background as it would be on a darker one. 

While making this mixed media drawing I changed and adapted my initial plans several times, depending on the results I got in each step of the process.

I did not apply any water on the drawing of the branches, as they are not the subject of my work. Only the drawings of the birds are 'activated' with a little water, so the colours would come to life. The result is what I hoped it to be.

The information about the paper, paints and pencils I have used, the size, the price and availability of this work can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Sandpipers at the North Sea Coast

 

Last winter we walked along the North Sea Coast as part of a long walk at 'De Kwade Hoek' (Netherlands) and on the shallow mud flats close to the tide line we saw some sandpipers looking for food in the mud. My husband made several reference pictures, but as we could not come very close to them  we are not sure which kind of sandpiper we did see.

Most of them only visit our coast line in winter and they have the same 'winter coat' so I could not find the exact species of sandpiper that visited that stretch of our coast line that day. Maybe there was more than one kind of bird, that is also possible. 

The reference pictures have been waiting a few months before I found the time and inspiration to use them. 

I tried to differentiate the colours of their feathers by zooming in on the picture. There are differences between the heads and the wings and that is all I could find, so that is how I have painted them. The natural light of that day did not help either, we had lots of clouds and some hours of rain during that walk so the landscape was sombre and the little birds were streaks of grey and white with legs and a bill. 

The information about the paper and paints I have used, the size, the price and availability of this watercolour painting can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Dinner time!

 

In this time with most of Europe in a (partial) lockdown, there are a lot of art challenges to lighten the burden of having to stay close to our homes. I am trying to enter in as many challenges as possible, if only for the reason that it's good to challenge myself to improve my skills in drawing and painting.

The second week of the Lockdown Drawing challenge by Artists&Illustrators magazine has 'Dinner time' as its theme and that inspired me to make this painting of two great tits feeding on our bird feeder. As I do not paint people, I chose to paint animals that were having something to eat.

The reference pictures were made last year (we have a new feeder now) by my husband Peter and they were waiting to be used.

I have combined two pictures and the feeder is situated in an imaginary setting, ours is hanging from a small hook that is fastened at our garden shed. 

This is a 'small' scene, so I took a small piece of paper for this watercolour.

Usually I paint wet-in-wet, but this time I have painted most of the painting wet-on-dry to keep the birds recognizable. 

This is the first time in years that I have painted birds and I am really happy with the result.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this watercolour painting can be found in my Tumblr blog

The groceries!

The June challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' (the amateur art association of which I am a member) is Father(s day) and that meant some thinking for me.
Painting or drawing people is not what I really want to do so I had to think of something else. Animals are not my best subject either, but I am a bit more confident about my skills with that.

As it is springtime now, there are lots of father birds having to feed their young or a breeding mother bird so that was to be my subject for the challenge.
The scene is made up with a breeding mother bird and the father bird bringing in a nice fat caterpillar or something she would like to eat.

The whole scene is imaginary, I have used a photo reference for the silhouette of the father bird and I have given the birds the colours I like. The mother in brown shades to be camouflaged in her nest and the father has some violet, my favourite colour.
I emphasized the branches and green of the tree they chose for their home not as much as the birds, because they are my subject and I wanted them to stand out a bit.

Again I have used a challenge to get 'out of my comfort zone', and even though I did not 'get out' far, I did have some thinking to do here and I had to find a reference for the bird before I had the confidence to draw it. 

More information about this small drawing (paper and colours used, contact information, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com